Early reviews. Critics give Rainy Sunday Afternoon an early B-Side Breakdown of 80 (B-), from 6 reviews so far. It will settle as more outlets weigh in.
The verdict on Rainy Sunday Afternoon
Most critics liked it: 5 of 6 liked it.
- Highest 90 musicOMH and Clash
- Outlier 60 The Arts Desk, 20 points below the next-lowest score
- Career #2 of The Divine Comedy's 5 albums with a Breakdown
- By the numbers The Divine Comedy's best-reviewed album here since Casanova (1996).
| The gist | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| musicOMH via Wikipediaby John Murphy | 4.5/5 | 90 | Sep 17, 2025 | “Neil Hannon's best album in years sports his characteristic wit and orchestral flourishes. But its personal subject matter elevates these songs to something greater” |
| Clash via Wikipediaby Gareth James | 9/10 | 90 | Sep 16, 2025 | “There’s a point in ‘All The Pretty Lights’, the bewitching centrepiece of Neil Hannon’s thirteenth album as The Divine Comedy, where he pauses to question” |
| Rolling Stone via Wikipediaby La Rédaction | 4/5 | 80 | Sep 19, 2025 | “Grisaille et humidité couvrent le nouvel album de The Divine Comedy, dans lequel Neil Hannon montre son talent une nouvelle fois. L’histoire de la musique britannique est parcourue par la…” |
| Mojo via Wikipediaby James McNair | 4/5 | 80 | Sep 18, 2025 | “Partly funded by Neil Hannon’s work on the Wonka movie soundtrack, arch songwriter’s 13th hits a peak. Read MOJO's review and the track list in full.” |
| Louder Than War via Wikipediaby Robert Plummer | 4/5 | 80 | Sep 14, 2025 | “Chamber-pop maestro Neil Hannon shows his sombre side on an affecting set of songs that can bring consolation to the gloomiest hours.” |
| The Arts Desk via Wikipediaby Guy Oddy | 3/5 | 60 | Sep 17, 2025 | “Neil Hannon has been recording and touring as the Divine Comedy since 1989 and has tried a fair few flavours along the way, from chamber pop to Britpop, while sounding…” |
Every Sunday: the week's new albums, scored by the critics. Plus our own reviews when we post them. Free, and one click to leave.
Rainy Sunday Afternoon in The Divine Comedy's catalog
More from The Divine Comedy
More Folk, Country & Americana from around 2025
Would you spin it again?
Be the first to answer. Results show once 3 listeners weigh in.
How the Breakdown works
Every outlet’s score is converted to 0–100 (2/5 is 40, 5.9/10 is 59, a B+ is 88) and averaged. Grades follow the B-Side scale: A is 90–100, B 80–89, C 70–79, D 60–69, F below 60. Approval is the share of critics who scored it 75 or higher; the Breakdown shows green at 75 and up, red below. Divisiveness asks a different question: not how many critics liked it, but how close their scores are to each other. Five critics who all give it 50 are Unanimous, even though none of them liked it. The labels run Unanimous, Broad agreement, Some debate, Divided, and Contentious. Replay rate comes from listeners, not critics: yes counts fully, a few tracks counts half, no counts zero. The gist quotes each outlet’s own summary of its review. Published is the date on the review itself, read from the outlet’s page, so you can see whether an album’s reputation came at release or years later. Scores marked est. come from reviews that publish no number. Scores marked via Wikipedia are archive ratings, mostly for older albums, taken from the “Professional ratings” box on the album’s Wikipedia page (published openly through Wikidata); each links to the original review when we can find it online, and to that Wikipedia entry when we can’t. When an outlet reviewed an album twice, years apart (often for a reissue), both scores count, each labeled with its year.
A-Side marks the critics’ top tier. An album earns it automatically, from its numbers alone: a Breakdown of 90 or higher, from at least 5 reviews, with at least 75% approval. Nobody hands it out and nobody can buy it; if new reviews pull an album below the line, it loses the badge.
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